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This article reports findings from a survey of officials from various California state agencies and a series of interviews and focus groups with female youth and professionals serving this population. The study examined types of services provided, program barriers, and facilitation of change. The findings were used to make gender-specific policy and program recommendations. The authors found that meeting the needs of girls and young women requires specialized staffing and training, particularly in terms of relationship and communication skills, gender differences in delinquency, substance abuse education, the role of abuse, developmental stages of female adolescence, and available programs and appropriate placements and limitations. Effective programming for girls and women should be shaped by and tailored to their real-world situations and problems. In order to do this, a theoretical approach to treatment that is gender-sensitive and that addresses the realities of girls' lives must be developed.

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This review paper discusses the construct of child and adolescent psychopathy and outlines controversy about the topic as well as some of the reasons that it might be developmentally appropriate. Past research has suggested that child psychopathy may be inapplicable to youth because the symptoms cannot be reliably distinguished from features of normative adolescent development. Concerns have also been raised regarding the possibility that the syndrome does not closely resemble the adult construct of psychopathy. We conclude that there is some truth to both sides of this story. Research shows that child psychopathy has a considerable degree of reliability and construct validity; however, there are also some important developmental differences. Furthermore, emerging evidence indicates potential changes in psychopathic symptoms over time and the important role of protective factors. Although, current research suggests that the concept of child psychopathy may be like an impressionist painting (i.e., clearer from a distance but messier as one gets closer), we argue this is not necessarily problematic from a developmental perspective. However, we conclude that a rigorous set of research studies will be needed to further advance our understanding of child psychopathy and the way it manifests itself over time.